Football coach ends contract with crisis-hit V. League club

By Lam Thoa   December 15, 2020 | 05:10 pm PT
Football coach ends contract with crisis-hit V. League club
Coach Phan Thanh Hung (L) has left Than Quang Ninh after his requests that the club recruit more players and pay pending wages were not met by the club. Photo by VnExpress/Lam Thoa.
Coach Phan Thanh Hung has decided to leave the Than Quang Ninh club with one year left in his contract and take a break from coaching.

"I just got a contract release agreement with Quang Ninh. I love the club as well as the fans but this job is no longer suitable for me. So I decided to quit. For now, I will return home and stop coaching for a while," Hung said Tuesday.

Quang Ninh’s main sponsor, the Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group, pulled out suddenly earlier this year, plunging the club into a financial crisis. It has not paid players’ salaries and bonuses for five months, pushing key players to quit and move to other clubs.

At the moment, Quang Ninh’s first squad has just 12 players left, three of them injured.

Coach Hung had already given notice about quitting and said he’d wait 30 days for Quang Ninh’s response before finalizing his next move.

Last week, the Quang Ninh People’s Committee and club chairman Pham Thanh Hung had sorted out the financial solution for the club and invited the 60-year-old coach back.

In a Monday meeting, the coach requested the club to recruit more players and pay pending wages to the players so that they can focus on the new season. However, the club refused to do this, prompting Hung’s decision to end his contract.

Coach Hung is highly rated for his skills in developing young players and building an offensive playing style for the team during his spell at Hanoi FC before moving to Quang Ninh in 2016.

Under his management, Quang Ninh became a force to reckon with, always finishing in the top four and winning a National Cup. Last season, the club finished fourth.

The 2021 football season will begin January 9 with the Super Cup match between Hanoi FC and Viettel FC. The V. League 1 2021 will start a week later.

 
 
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